Parish Council Minutes for 6th August 2007Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held in the Small Hall, High Street, Leigh, Monday 6th August 07 commencing at 8.00 pm under the chairmanship of Cllr. C Stratton-Brown. 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllrs. D. Bennie, H. Powell, District Cllr Alison Cook and Mrs J Butler (Clerk). PRESENT: Cllrs. Mr. A. Johnson, Mr. J. Knock, Mr. C. Stratton-Brown, Mr. R. Sykes, Mr. D. Bennie. IN ATTENDANCE: County Councillor Peter Lake and SPC Graham Eade. 2. DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTEREST. None. 3. MINUTES of the Parish Council meeting held on 2nd July were approved. Minutes of the Planning meetings held on 18th June and 16th July were also approved and signed. 4. MATTERS ARISING FROM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 2ND JULY Speed Watch Volunteers - The papers including the list of volunteers had been passed to the Clerk. 5. REPORTS i.) District Cllr. Mrs Alison Cook was not present but the Chairman said she had asked it to be mentioned that children were welcome to attend the Play caravan at any of its locations in the District ii.) County Cllr. Mr. Peter Lake - Cllr. Lake would draw the attention of Kent Highways to the grass verges not being cut and the consequent danger to buses. He would also reiterate concerns over the dip in the road adjacent to Laundry Cottage. Concern was expressed over the cable layers clearing up the spoil heaps and reinstating the verges, although it was noted that the standard of work and the cooperation over road closures had been as good as possible. The Clerk would be asked to mention the clearing up concern to Kent Highways. Clllr. Lake was asked to relay to Kent County Council the waste of about £100,000 incurred by altering the specification for Jessica's Hall to avoid the chestnut tree which now had to be felled. Cllr. Lake's attention was drawn to the siting of a 30mph interactive sign outside the Sandhurst, Kent, 30mph limit. Cllr. Knock expressed concern at the apparent drying up of funds for youth work. Cllr Lake would chase and talk to the KCC youth officer, Brigadier Hill. Cllr. Lake agreed to use funds allocated to him to assist the Cricket Club with replacement nets. Cllr. Lake will also take up the issue of 'no cycling' notices incorrectly erected on the cycle and footpath from the Powdermills towards Tonbridge. iii.) SPC Eade - SPC Eade had passed on correspondence about stone throwing at the tennis courts and complaints about motor cyclists. Two youths had been arrested and the police carried out patrols in the village. iv. Open Session As no members of the public were present, there was no Open Session.
6. PLANNING SE/07/01696/FUL - 2 Engineers Cottages, High Street, Leigh - single story extensions to rear of building. SE/07/01147/LBCALT - Leigh Village Hall - Replacement of heating system & updating electrics in Large Village Hall. Both were granted. Planning application withdrawn: SE/07/01103/FUL Upper Kennards, Hildenborough Road, Leigh - proposed alterations and addition, reconstruction of garage/out building. Planning applications - SE/07/02140/FUL and SE/07 02143/LBCALT - Forge House, Charcott - Demolition of existing redundant workshop, lean-to link and conservatory. Construction of dining area and music/guest room - members had no objections. Other information - 1 SE/07/01698/FUL - 2 Engineers Cottages, High Street, Leigh - construction of new wall and gate, on-site parking for three cars and new access - Kent Highways Services had recommended refusal. 2. Application for 4 affordable units at Charcott had been refused owing to problems over protected species. 3. Cllr. Stratton-Brown had attended a Planning Meeting held by Sevenoaks District Council. A new District Plan was being drawn up and all Parish Councils were encouraged to respond with comments when the draft was circulated. In response to his question, it was stated that when a 'certificate of use' had been given on the basis of the facts received, the certificate cannot be challenged. It was agreed that it would be better to consult parish councils in similar cases in future. 7. CURRENT ISSUES i.) West Kent Housing/Rural Housing Trust - Gibbs Field - Cllrs. Knock and Stratton-Brown had attended the RHT debriefing held on 19th July. Cllr Stratton-Brown reported that it was considered that the completed site and buildings were very satisfactory and only favourable comments had been received. It was mentioned that KCC had not agreed to adopt the road because of drainage issues but it was hoped this could be resolved. He had raised the following issues: a) the positioning of the traffic calming features mentioning the concern of the Parish Council; b) no mention in the S.106 agreement of consultation with the Parish Council to confirm the local connection of prospective residents; c) application of a cascade system to the list of local connections with the Parish. Regarding a) Cllr Stratton-Brown mentioned there would be a meeting with Kent Highways on 6th August and Andrea Kerry of SDC Planning Department and Melvin Keyte of building company Geoffrey Osborne said they would like to attend. Regarding b) it was stated that the requirement to consult with the Parish Council was set out elsewhere so did not need to be duplicated in the S.106 agreement. With regard to c), Moira Constable, the Chief Executive of the RHT, said that they had drawn up the S.106 agreement and the local connections were not meant to be applied in a cascade system. Gavin Missions undertook to investigate this. ii.) Gibbs Field Traffic Calming features - The meeting had been held adjacent to Gibbs Field. Present were KC Cllr Lake, District Cllr. Cook, Alan Pottinger and Brian Fitzgerald of Kent Highways, Andrea Kerry and Melvin Keyte of SDC Planning, and Cllrs. Marchant and Stratton-Brown. All councillors pointed out the dangers inherent in residents of the Gibbs Field walking down the road towards all the village amenities, and that drivers needed to have slowed to 30mph before the entrance to Gibbs Field and that a proactive sign opposite the entrance to Park House would just distract drivers when they should be watching for residents leaving the Gibbs Field. Alan Pottinger and Brian Fitzgerald explained the legal position of siting both the 30mph limit and the interactive sign and mentioned that the current traffic calming proposals included repainting the red area on the road and 30 painted on this at the 30mph limit. However they were persuaded to have a further look at whether the 30mph limit could be moved about 60 metres further away from the village with the interactive sign immediately prior to the entrance to the Gibbs Field. All were keen to see a swift resolution of this issue. iii) Movement of the Millennium Seat - a request had been received from the school for the seat to be re-sited away from Jessica's Hall to stop children being distracted by users. It was agreed to defer this to the next meeting so the views of Cllrs. Bennie and Powell could be ascertained. 8. ENVIRONMENT i.) Footpaths - It was agreed that the Footpaths Committee should be resurrected and their views sought on the suggestions in Mr. Rowley's paper. A general invitation for comments from footpaths walkers should be included to the next Parish Council article in the magazine. ii.) Charcot Aerodrome footpath - The Clerk would be asked to write to the SDC to request cutting back the vegetation. iii.) Burial Ground It was agreed it was too untidy and that monthly maintenance was needed and old grass should be removed. Peter Croft will attend reporting back as necessary. iv.) Dog mess on pavements - This was becoming a problem again. The Clerk would be asked to look into the legal position regarding bylaws and fines. v.) Trees on the Green - Consideration was deferred until estimates had been received. vi.) Grass in front of the Pavillion - Cllr. Marchant will investigate. vii.) Edge of the road to the east of the Cricket Pavillion - This would be raised with Cllr. Lake at the next meeting. viii.) Waste bin at the entrance to Greenview Avenue - The Clerk would be asked to press Sevenoaks District Council for more frequent and regular emptying of this bin. 9. PLAYGROUND. Nothing to report. 10. VILLAGE HALLS Listed building consent had been received for the works to the Large Village Hall and the Heating Engineer was due to start that week. The Electrical Engineer should start the following week. 11. AGED PERSONS DWELLING The residents have chosen electric fires and Peter Fulbrook will attend to them when received. 12. TRANSPORT. British Rail timetable in front of Village Hall - the timetable was still a year old. A new one had been promised from Jane Bridle, Station Manager responsible for Leigh. ii) Complaint from bus driver about the verges - She would be asked to press her employers to write to KCC Highways to add pressure towards the verges being cut. 13. YOUTH FORUM Cllr. Bennie had sent an email to the Chairman mentioning that he was in touch with SDC's youth officer about using their Play Bus on a weekly basis. Further information would be sought from Cllr. Bennie. 14. CORRESPONDENCE FOR ACTION received up to 25th July
CORRESPONDENCE FOR INFORMATION received up to 25th July
15. FINANCIAL MATTERS Payment of cheques listed below were approved.
16. ANY FURTHER MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION. None. Signed..................................... Chairman Date......................................
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